Box Score
NEWARK, NJ—Houston Baptist raised its Great West Conference women's volleyball record to 3-0 with a 25-19, 25-19, and 25-17 sweep of NJIT Saturday afternoon in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
Junior Isis Gardner, a transfer from North Carolina State, had 12 kills and sophomore Heather Leverton added 11 for the Huskies, who are 8-7 overall, having won five of their last six.
Victoria Weatherly had 37 assists for HBU, which had a 6-2 team blocking advantage, plus three players with double-figure digs totals. Weatherly and Jolie Graf each had three block assists to lead in that category. The digs leaders were Courtney Whittleman (15), followed by Gardner and Leverton, who completed double-doubles, with 13 digs apiece.
NJIT, which played much better overall than it had in losing a Great West Conference match two night earlier against Texas-Pan American, got a match-best 14 kills from senior Baaba Hughes, who had just one attack error in 33 attempts and finished with a .364 hitting percentage. Anna Mercado collected 21 assists.
Junior Audrey Snell tied for match honors, with 18 digs, while Carly Ziemer added 10. Julia Colombo had two block assists to pace the Highlanders and she also had four kills in eight swings, with no errors.
The first set was close, with Houston Baptist holding an 11-9 win before taking control with a 6-2 spurt that made it 17-11 for the Huskies, who led by at least three the rest of the way.
NJIT led the second set, 13-12, but the visitors again spurted, 5-0, for a 17-13 lead and they went on to the 25-19 win.
HBU gained the upper hand earlier in the third set, breaking a 6-6 tie and extending a 9-8 lead to 14-8, before finishing off the match with a 7-3 spurt.
The Highlanders are 2-11 overall and 1-3 in the Great West Conference.
NJIT will host Chicago State in another Great West Conference matchup at 5 pm next Saturday, October 2, as part of NJIT Day in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center. The Highlanders defeated Chicago State in Illinois, 3-2, on September 18.
